Hockey training stick

ABSTRACT

Hockey equipment, particularly for practicing puck control, comprising a hockey stick with a plurality of apertures in the blade of the stick, a puck, and an elastic cord for detachably connecting the puck to the blade of the stick through one of the apertures.

United States Patent 1111 3,863,917 Beale Feb. 4, 1975 HOCKEY TRAININGSTICK 3,137,507 6/1964 PlCklfiil 273/200 R x [76] Inventor: Robert G.Beale, 7377 Brucy $1., $1. ;Z,',;;,-;,-;

Leonard, Quebec, Canada 3,635,475 1/1972 Brown 273/26 E [221 Film 1973FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [21] Appl. No.: 417,196 1,058,560 2/l967Great Britain 273/167 E 607,255 8/1948 Great Britain 273/76 30 F Al'l'P"tDt 1 N t pllcadmn "on y a a 156 903 Primary ExaminerPaul E. Shapiro0v. ana a Attorney Agent, or Firm Alan Swabey; Robert E. 52 vs. 01.273/1 B, 273/67 A [51] Int. Cl A63b 59/14 [58] Field of Search 273/1 B,26 E, 29 A, 67 A, [57] ABSTRACT 273/167 200 76 Hockey equipment,particularly for practicing puck control, comprising a hockey stick witha plurality of [56] References C'ted apertures in the blade of thestick, a puck, and an elas- U IT ST PATENTS tic cord for detachablyconnecting the puck to the 780,776 1/1905 Brown 273/167 E blade of thestick through one of the apertures. 1,502,058 7/1924 Quin 273/58 C2,945,695 7/1960 Heimers et al 273/200 R x 8 Clams, 7 Drawlllg FlgllresPATENTED 41975 3,863,917

JIH'I/ an" HOCKEY TRAINING STICK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofThe Invention This invention is directed to hockey equipment. Theinvention is more particularly directed to hockey equipment to be usedby hockey players to more easily practice and develop various puckcontrol skills.

2. Description of Prior Art Good hockey players must have the ability tocontrol the puck during play in a hockey game. A good hockey player, forexample, should be able to receive passes without losing control of thepuck when it strikes the blade of his hockey stick. A good hockey playershould also be able to accurately deflect a puck in passage or flight toscore tip-in goals, or to relay passes.

Hockey players practice to develop ability at the above-mentioned puckcontrol skills. However, a lot of practice time is normally wasted inchasing loose pucks and in having to practice such skills at least inpairs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIon The present invention relates to equipmentwhich allows a player to practice various puck control skillsindividually, and without having to chase loose pucks, thus permittingmore efficient use of available practice time.

The equipment of the present invention for practicing puck controlconsists of a hockey stick having a blade, a hockey puck, and flexibletie means for connecting the puck to the blade of the hockey stick.Preferably, the flexible tie means is, at least in part, stretchable orelastic withthe elastic part of the tie means connected to the blade. Inaddition, it is preferred to provide different locations on the blade ofthe stick to any one of which the tie means can be detachably connected.

The player, when using the equipment, manipulates the hockey stick tomove the puck away from the blade of the stick and then toward it as ifpassed. When the puck moves back toward the blade, the player canpractice deflecting the returning puck or receiving it properly on theblade of the stick as if taking a pass. Since the puck is tethered, notime is wasted in chasing it after deflecting it or if it is missed. Ifusing elastic tie means, the puck will automatically return to the pointon the blade where the tie means is connected after the puck has beenshot away from the blade. Thus no manipulation of the stick to returnthe puck from the end of its tether is necessary.

In being able to detachably connect the tie means to different parts ofthe blade, practice is provided in receiving passes or deflecting shots,at or from, different parts of the blade such as the heel or toe parts.The different connection locations on the stick blade are preferablydefined by two or more apertures in the blade. Preferably, a pluralityof apertures are provided spaced along the length of the blade.Additional apertures can also be provided spaced vertically at differentlocations along the blade.

The apertures in the blade not only serve as connection locations forthe tie means, but also serve to reduce air resistance encountered bythe blade in shooting a puck and thus the apertured stick can be usedwithout the tie means to shoot faster.

2 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described indetail having reference to the accompanying drawings. inwhich:

FIG. I illustrates the equipment ofthe present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a detail of one embodiment of the blade of a hockey stick ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the puck and tie means of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a detail view showing how the puck receives the tie means;

FIG. 5 is a detail of one type of connector on the tie means;

FIG. 6 is a detail of another type of connector on the tie means; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross section of a puck showing another manner ofconnecting the puck to the tie means.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The equipment 1 to practice puckcontrol is shown in FIG. 1 and includes a hockey stick 3 having a handle5 and blade 7. A puck 9 is connected to the blade 7 of the stick bbysuitable, flexible tie means 11. The tie means 11, at least in part, iselastic or stretchable with the elastic part being connected to theblade. Preferably, the tie means 11 includes an elasticcord 13, of anypractical length. In one example, a cord of about three feet in lengthwas used. One end of cord 13 is connected, preferably permanently, tothe puck 9. Puck 9 has a circumferential groove 15 about its edge 17, asshown in FIG. 4, to receive the one end of the cord. The one end of thecord can be suitably connected to itself after it is encircled about thepuck in the groove.

The other end of the cord 13 is preferably detachably connected, bysuitable connecting means 19 forming part of the tie means 11, to theblade 7 of the stick 3 at one of several locations. These locationspreferably are defined by apertures 21 formed in the blade. Theapertures can be arranged in one or more rows extending-the length ofthe blade between the heel 23 and the toe 25.

As shown in FIG. 5,-the connecting means 19 can comprise a substantiallyrigid, toggle-like member 29. This member 29 can be formed from a'sheet31 of suitable crimpable plastic ormetal material, folded upon itself toprovide a longitudinal slot 33. The other end of the cord 13 is laid inslot 33 to emerge centrally therefrom. The member 29 is crimped, as at35, to permanently retain the other end of the cord within the slot.

To connect the tie means 11 to the blade 7, the toggle-like connectingmember 29 is passed endwise through one of the apertures 21 in theblade, and then turned to lie against one side of the blade spanning theaperture. The cord 13 passes from the member 29 through the aperture tothe puck which is on the opposite side of the blade.

In operation, the player manipulates the hockey stick to flip or movethe tethered puck away from the blade a distance limited by the lengthof the tie 11. The puck can then bequickly drawn back toward the bladeby manipulating the stick to move the puck back via the tie means 11.With an elastic tie means, however, the puck will snap back toward theblade without further manipulation due to the resiliency of the tie.When the puck moves back to the blade, toward the point at which the tieconnects it to the blade, it can be deflected, or trapped by the blade,as if receiving a pass. The point of connection of the puck to the bladecan be varied by withdrawing the toggle-like member 29 endwise throughone hole 21 and inserting it endwise through another hole. Thus the puckcan be connected close to the heel or to the toe as desired, or evennear the top edge of the blade, in order to give the player practicehandling the puck with different parts of the blade.

Connecting means other than the toggle-type member 29 can be employed.As shown in FIG. 6, suitable connecting means 19' can include a threadedstud 43. The stud 43 has an enlarged base 45 at one end and alongitudinal slot 47 at the other end. A bore hole 51, through base 45,connects with the bottom of slot 47. A cap 53, having internal threads55, is provided to screw into stud 43. To employ connecting means 19' toconnect the other end of elastic cord 13 to the blade 7, the other endof the cord 13 is passed through hole 51 into slot 47 of stud 43. Stud43 in turn passes through a selected hole 21 in blade 7 with its base 45abutting one side of the blade. Cap 53 is threaded onto stud 43 from theother side of the blade to prevent removal of stud 43 and to narrow slot47 thus tightly holding the other end of cord 13 in place.

The tie means 11 can be attached to the puck other than by having agroove in the periphery of the puck. For instance, the puck could beprovided with a pair of bores 61 and 62 meeting at right angles as shownin FIG. 7. A pin 60 is tightly fitted within the bore 62 along thevertical axis of the puck, while the tie means 13 passes through thebore 61 and is attached to the pin I claim:

1. Hockey equipment for practicing puck control comprising a hockeystick having a blade, a hockey puck, and flexible tie means connected tothe puck, the blade of the stick having a plurality of spaced-apartlocations for selectively receiving the tie means whereby the puck willreturn to a different portion of the blade depending on the location onthe blade at which the tie means is received.

2. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein each location isdefined by an aperture in the blade of the stick.

3. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein the tie meanscomprises a flexible cord and connector means at one end thereof.

4. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein the connector meanscomprises an elongated togglelike member sized to pass endwise throughany one of the apertures.

5. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein the connector meanscomprises a slotted, threaded stud receiving one end of the cord andinsertable partway through any one of the apertures, and a threaded capcooperating with the stud to hold it in the aperture and to hold thecord in the stud.

6. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein the tie means is, atleast in part, elastic.

7. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tie means is, atleast in part, elastic.

8. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the puck has acircumferential groove for receiving the tie means.

1. Hockey equipment for practicing puck control comprising a hockeystick having a blade, a hockey puck, and flexible tie means connected tothe puck, the blade of the stick having a plurality of spaced-apartlocations for selectively receiving the tie means whereby the puck willreturn to a different portion of the blade depending on the location onthe blade at which the tie means is received.
 2. Hockey equipment asclaimed in claim 1 wherein each location is defined by an aperture inthe blade of the stick.
 3. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 2wherein the tie means comprises a flexible cord and connector means atone end thereof.
 4. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein theconnector means comprises an elongated toggle-like member sized to passendwise through any one of the apertures.
 5. Hockey equipment as claimedin claim 3 wherein the connector means comprises a slotted, threadedstud receiving one end of the cord and insertable partway through anyone of the apertures, and a threaded cap cooperating with the stud tohold it in the aperture and to hold the cord in the stud.
 6. Hockeyequipment as claimed in claim 3 wherein the tie means is, at least inpart, elastic.
 7. Hockey equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tiemeans is, at least in part, elastic.
 8. Hockey equipment as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the puck has a circumferential groove for receiving thetie means.